


Of Cats and Computers

by empty_battlefield



Series: A Slice of Sadstuck [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: (Almost), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cats, Computers, Disability, Hopeful Ending, Humanstuck, Not Sadstuck, Other, Sadstuck, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love, Sibling Rivalry, mental disability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 13:38:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9740627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empty_battlefield/pseuds/empty_battlefield
Summary: You are Sollux Captor, and this is exactly why you don't like taking your brother places.He'sincoherent,as they say, and always manages to screw something up or embarrass the two of you in public.But when going over to Nepeta's house to fix her husktop--this time is different.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Companion stories: Occurs before both _Birthday Party_ and _Honey Nut Cheerios,_ although can be read independently.

==> Be Sollux Captor. 

Eh, only if you insist. Very well then. You are Sollux Captor, and you are tight lipped and grimacing in the driver's seat of Psii's clunky old car. The old thing rattles with every bump you go over, and the engine wheezes and hisses as you move. But none of that can be heard over the sound of Mituna's protesting in the front seat.

"Mituna, you can whine your assth off, I don't give a crap. I'm not stopping for Taco Bell."

Mituna swears among grumbles of incoherence. "You thson of a bitch, eat shit—I'm gonna fucking kill you when we get home..."

"It'sth not like I'm thstarving you—" you retort, "I asthked if you wanted food before we left to fixth Nepeta'sth computer, you should have thsaid thsomething back then."

Mituna gripes about it until you pull the car into the Lejions' driveway. "Do you want to sthtay in the car?" you ask. 

He gruffly ducks out of the car without saying a word. "Whatever," you say, "but you better not bother us while I'm working."

Nepeta is your friend, and so you never asked to be paid for your tech support services. She was the one who insisted that she wanted to. If you could’ve managed to refuse the money, you definitely would have. You cannot let Mituna screw up this visit. 

Nepeta left the front door open for you, and when the two of you step inside, your feet are ambushed by cats. 

Meulin then emerges from the family room and sees the two of you at the door. "Hi!" she greets cheerfully." She curls over to clear the way by corralling the four kitties away from the door. "Nepeta stepped outside, she should be back in a minute." Her deafened voice carries and fills the room.

She stands up again. "Hi Mituna! Glad to see you here. How are you?" All the while, her hands fly every which way as she tries to speak to your brother. He says nothing and his hands remain paralyzed in his pockets. You remember when Meulin tried to teach your brother sign language a while back—she thought it would help him to communicate better. He never picked it up. Embarrassedly, you give Meulin a tight lipped, apologetic smile as her kind, round face falls in disappointment. Mituna stares at the floor. 

"Hi Sollux! Hey Mituna," Nepeta says breathlessly as she bounds into the foyer. "I was working in the backyard, I hope you weren't waiting too long."

"Nah, we justht got here. Where'sth your computer?" you ask, wanting to get Mituna out of here ASAP.

"Over here," she says, and you follow her deeper into her hive. You notice that your brother does not follow you. You are OK with him staying in the foyer. 

"What thseems to be the problem?"

"It's frozen, with like a hundred different windows popped up everywhere," she describes. "I don't know what happened, I was just using it when it started flipping out."

You restart Nepeta's laptop. She holds her breath as the machine huffs out a long sigh, then falls silent as the screen goes dark. It huffs again as the fans deep inside it spin back into life, and the screen remains fixed with its many windows. 

"It looksth like you have a virusth," you groan. "If you don't mind me asthking, did KK stho much as touch your husthktop—"

There is the rapid pattering of claws on a carpet. A cat sprints across the room and leaps swiftly onto the window sill. Tailing that was the reverberation of thumping footsteps as Mituna stumbled in from the foyer. His stance was crouched low as he oafishly chased the cat. 

"Mituna!" you yell sternly.

Mituna rises to his full height at your call. He hangs his head in shame. "I just—I'm thorry."

You draw in a breath to scream, but Nepeta cuts your rage before it begins. "Oh, Mituna, I didn't know you were interested in my kitties. No wonder Mama ran away from you, she's the most defensive of the bunch. Doesn't like being pet by anybody. Hold on, lemme find somebody less skittish." And she leaves the room to hunt down a cat for him. 

Mituna says nothing. And you are too shocked to say anything to him. Your eyes remain glued to the computer, trying to focus, until Nepeta returns with a ball of fur cradled in her arms.

Mituna is mesmerized as Nepeta places the cat—no, kitten—in his lap. "Here's Leo. She's only a baby, but she's very friendly. Go on, you can pet her." Mituna extends a large, trembling hand. You can tell he is afraid of hurting something so small. But Nepeta takes his hand and with it gently strokes Leo. Soon enough Mituna is doing it on his own. He is silent as his eyes remain fixed on the kitten. 

With Mituna occupied, you return to Nepeta's computer after a while. You eventually scrub out the virus and restore all Nepeta's files. When you are finished Mituna is in the exact same place you left him, with a kitten crawling up and down his sleeves. He is grinning with all his protruding teeth.

"Thanks so much Sollux," Nepeta says to you, finally closing her husktop. 

"No, thank _you,_ " you reply in earnest. "I've justht—he'sth always stho high-thstrung. Thisth isth the calmethst he'sth been in weeksth. Thank you."

Nepeta gives a small chuckle. "Cats tend to have that kind of effect on people," she replies. "Karkat met Leo too a few days ago when he was over here. She helped him cool down I think, since he's got so much packed in his head all the time, you know?"

"Yeah, I get that from him."

"Yeah. Well, I think it’s the same sort of thing with your brother. He's just got his head filled with so many confusing things. Maybe animals clear his head a little. Who knows?"

"Yeah," you say absently, staring at Mituna on the couch, cat in his lap. "Maybe. But, he'sth being thso gentle. I could never get him to do that. The guy can't even open a thcereal box without dethstroying the cardboard."

Nepeta laughs out loud. "Haha, Equius is the same way. Mituna reminds me a bit of him. Just doesn't know his own strength, you know? He'll learn. He's doing good."

"Even though I'm done with your computer, I almostht hate to make him leave," you say bashfully. 

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Nepeta says, standing up. "He can come over any time he wants to see Leo. I don't mind."

"Really?" you say incredulously. "Thanksth thso much, Nepeta."

"It's no problem," she says, "wouldn't want to take away a good thing from him."

You walk over to where Mituna is sitting on the Lejion's pale green couch. His eyes behind his visor are fixed on the kitten. He seems to have forgotten about everything else. "Hey Mituna," you say gently. "We gotta get going soon. Gonna have a late lunch."

Mituna's mouth drops slightly open, and eyes contort with worry behind his visor. "Nepeta says you can come back anytime you want to see the cats, OK. But we gotta go now. So say goodbye."

"OK," Mituna says. His voice is barely above a whisper as he speaks. "Do you wanna pet him too, Thol?" Your mouth twitches into a smile, and you let the kitten sniff your hand, then stroke her back smoothly with your index finger. 

And you think you understand what Nepeta was talking about. 

Mituna reluctantly hands the kitten back to Nepeta, who lets her scamper off into the other room. The Captors bid the girls goodbye, and exit the hive. 

"Hey Mituna?"

"Yea?"

"You—you were really good with that cat."

"Thanksth!"

"And—I'm really glad you didn't thstay in the car."

\------  
**Mini-Epilogue  
** Three years later, it smells like antiseptic in your musty hospital room. An intense headache is pressing behind your eyes, like a migraine but not quite. There is no bright light present because you can see nothing past the bandages heavily padding your eyes. 

"I have a thsurprise for you, Thol!" you recognize as Mituna's voice. 

"Purrhaps it shouldn't be a surprise," Nepeta's voice suggested kindly.

"What is going on..." you trail off vaguely as you hear the click of some sort of snap being popped open, and the squeak of a door. 

You feel the bed depress significantly on one side, and you make room for Mituna to sit. You think you hear a faint meowing sound.

"Is that...a cat?" you ask, and Mituna answers by taking your hand. He guides your strokes as he helps you pet the fur ball that is unmistakably a kitty cat. _Mituna brought Nepeta's cat to the hospital._

"It's Leo," Mituna said in a very soft voice. "'Member? All grown up. I think she likes you," Mituna says with a giggle under his voice.

"Can I...hold her?" You ask faintly, and Mituna gladly transfers the animal to your lap. You can guide your own hands now, using your IV-free arm to gently run your slender fingers through the cat's delicate fur. You feel the air around you grow anxious, but you and the cat remain enveloped in a bubble of calm. 

"Oh my God—Sollux, are you bleeding?" Nepeta says, her voice waxing on worried.

"Huh?" Mituna says, shifting on the bed. "What blood? That'sth not blood."

You know that your brother is on your left side, and you grab his shirt sleeve and pull him close. You feel your hot tears begin to wet the bandages you are wearing, and you know they will leave a mustard stain. But you don't care. You don't care that everyone is seeing you have a meltdown, or that your gums are still sore from your missing teeth, or that the doctors told you that you may never see again. You have a living, breathing animal in your lap, which your older brother was kind enough to bring for you.

You are practically sobbing as you gasp out "thank you," into Mituna's ear.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments on this story are always well appreciated!


End file.
